ZeroHouse, an Off-Grid Modern Dream

ZeroHouse generates its own electrical power, collects its own water, processes its own waste products, and is completely automatic. Conceived by architect Scott Specht, AIA, zeroHouse has everything you could ever ask for in a modern, green home.

The 650 square-foot home can be shipped to a site on two flatbed trailers and put up in a day. It's not meant to be austere, either, because with the zeroHouse, you'll have air conditioning/heat for two bedrooms, a full bathroom, a kitchen/dining room, and a living room. Initial studies indicate that the home will sell for around $350,000.

ZeroHouse is an off-grid, modern dream. It's prefabricated and the design calls upon a helical-anchor foundation system that touches the ground at four points, withstanding winds of up to 140 mph. The helical-anchor foundation makes the zeroHouse suitable for sloping locations or sites with water up to 10-feet deep.

The solar system stores energy in an onboard bank of batteries, which can sustain the home for a week without sunlight. Another cool feature of the home is its "hibernate" mode, which conserves power while maintaining the necessary electrical functions. Pretty incredible little house! Read more about it at Texas Architect, where it received an award.

Looks decent, but not much better than two containers on top of one another – and the price? At around $540 a square foot, this dream house will never sell and is not a practical innovation. Make it for $150 a square foot (plus delivery) and we are talking about a landscape changing home. And truth be told, it makes NO effort to work within a landscape. At that price, people will go custom – and should.